Despair in the Darkness
by Spidershadow5
Summary: During the Blackest Night, Spider-Man has an unfortunate run-in with his worst nightmares. (Cover image by me)


In his relatively short life, Peter Parker had lived through quite a few unusual, and terrible, days. These included being buried alive for two weeks, watching as magic hammers possessed several powerful superhumans who went on destructive rampages, fighting with his own costume that attempted to bond with him, and fighting nearly all of the world's greatest heroes, who'd had their personalities shifted by magic.

This one took the cake.

At the moment, Peter, aka Spider-Man, was swinging through New York, dodging the occasional black energy projectile with the aid of his spider-sense, before responding with a blow, or a blast of webbing. Thankfully, the crowd of Black Lanterns seemed to have dissipated around New York a little, possibly due to lack of new targets. Peter felt guilty over all the people that had most likely died at the hands of the zombies, such was his nature, but he had to keep reminding himself that it wasn't his fault, before remorse overwhelmed him. He knew the Black Lanterns were attracted to strong emotions, and he couldn't risk drawing more attention to himself. He had to find the others, and hopefully stop this crisis.

Peter had heard the reports of the black objects approaching Earth, but received no notice of emergency from his Avengers teammates, so he'd thought little of them. Of course, reports began to swarm in of the attacks about five minutes later. Soon enough, Professor X had mentally sent out a message from Barry Allen, the Flash, that the dead were rising, all around the world, as Black Lanterns. They craved the emotion-filled hearts of the living in order to charge their rings, but those who kept themselves calm were a bit safer, as the Black Lanterns couldn't track them easily.

Barry had insisted, based on some information from Deadman and the Atom, that the Black Lanterns weren't actually the people, but rather the black rings, wearing the dead bodies as hosts, using their voices and memories. Peter felt a bit relieved, as he was able to go all out, completely destroying the Black Lanterns with the strength of his bare hands, without having to worry about killing them. However, seeing how quickly the damn things regenerated, Peter fled, trying to make his way to Avengers HQ, in order to meet up with the others. It wasn't like there was anyone around the city left for him to save, anyway.

That was when he heard the scream.

Glancing down, he immediately noticed a young couple, trapped in a dead end alley, with a lone Black Lantern bearing down on them. It didn't seem to be a deceased villain or hero, just some man who'd been unfortunate enough to be dug up by an evil ring. Peter braced himself. He'd have to make a quick stop.

Releasing his web line, Spider-Man dove down like a missile, slamming into the Black Lantern's skull with all of his body weight. The man's already rotted bones shattered, and his left hand, without the ring, went flying off into the wall, along with some other loose skin. Gross, certainly, but Spider-Man didn't exactly have time to worry about cleanliness. He hurriedly webbed down the Black Lantern's torso, and pounded on the immobile corpse, praying that it would slow the regeneration down a little.

"RUN! And try to stay calm, it throws them off!" he shouted at the couple, who didn't need to be told twice. They turned around and fled, thankfully not screaming, which would definitely have attracted more zombies. However, Spider-Man's reprieve turned out to be brief, as the Lantern generated an axe, slicing through the webbing pinning him down. He swiped at Spider-Man, who was forced to backflip away, as the man's bones slid back into place with sickening cracks. The Black Lantern slowly stood up, as new skin and bones began to grow from the stump and other wounds, restoring him to his gaunt, rotting appearance.

"Wow," said Peter, "You can regrow all that, and you still look like a reject from the Walking Dead? Talk about lazy!"

"Peter Parker," snarled the Black Lantern, creating a hammer construct and lunging forward, "This is your fault. You failed to stop us."

"Yeah, yeah," said Spider-Man, leaping over the hammer swing, "Been there, done that, had that guilty breakdown for the day." He bounced off one of the alley walls, kicking out with his right foot. The blow connected with the Black Lantern's head, severing it at the neck, sending it flying into the other wall. Peter followed up by seizing the Black Lantern's arm, swinging the entire body around with all of his strength, before chucking it as hard as he could down the alley. He couldn't see what happened to it, but he could hear more bones breaking, as well as skin tearing. Ignoring the disgusting sounds, he jumped up, firing another web line, and swinging away from the alley as fast as he could.

 _Okay, that zombie should take a few moments to regrow most of its body._ Deciding to take his brief reprieve to check on that couple who was running for their lives, Spider-Man swung down to the end of the block, before landing on the last building's roof. He turned his gaze to the street, looking for them in all directions, hoping that this was the one they'd chosen to flee in.

 _"Hope,"_ said an ethereal, grating voice, coming from a nearby Black Lantern ring.

 _Ah, damn._

Peter's spider-sense flared up right on time, and he leaned backwards to avoid the incoming dart, which zipped harmlessly over his chest. Snapping back up, he tried to look around for his assailant, before the buzzing in his neck blared again, just a moment too late. A staff construct slapped him in the side of the head, sending the web-head falling backwards onto the roof.

His spider-like reflexes kicking in, Spider-Man bounced as he hit the ground, backflipping away from the edge, before landing on both feet, sliding a few centimeters. Raising his head, Spider-Man came face-to-face with the exact enemy he'd been expecting.

"Kraven," he grunted, "Getting a bit repetitive, aren't we?"

Sergei Kravinoff looked as he did in life, wearing his lion's head vest, and the small leopard print loincloth covering his crotch. This time, of course, the garments had been turned black, and the symbol of the Black Lantern Corps, an inverted triangle with five rectangles above it, was inscribed on both sides of his vest, around the eyes. A black ring was set upon his right hand, and he held a staff construct of black energy. Kraven's skin was grey and rotted, and his eyes were pure white, lacking iris and pupil. Thankfully, the bullet hole he'd gained when he'd committed suicide seemed to have healed.

"Spider," growled the hunter, shifting his weapon into a sharp spear, "You killed me. You let me die!" He hurled the weapon at the costumed superhuman, but Spider-Man had expected this move, and he leaped over Kraven's head.

"I know what you're trying to do," said Peter, breathing deeply so as to remain calm, "You're wanna make me feel guilty or angry before you break this little spider's heart." He swung behind him with his right arm, catching Kraven's left with a devastating hand chop. The Black Lantern hadn't had time to brace for the blow, and his entire arm came off, landing on the roof with a clunk.

"Though, too be fair, it's more constructive than all the 'Hunt the spider' games you came up with," Spider-Man chuckled, as Kraven lashed back at him with a black energy knife. The hunter's other arm was already regrowing, and Peter quickly decided that it was time for an exit. His fingers reached his web shooters, spraying out the adhesive fibers, sending them onto the massive billboard behind Kraven. Spider-Man pulled with all of his strength, tearing the sign free from it's supports, and sending it crashing down onto the hunter. Kraven didn't even have time to react, though he likely wouldn't have screamed, being dead. Satisfied, Peter laid down a layer of webbing on top of the rubble, in order to delay Kraven, before jumping up and launching another web line.

Unfortunately for poor Peter, this was not destined to be a good day for him. He'd barely started to swing away, when his spider-sense blared, and another web line, this one black, latched onto his chest. Spider-Man barely got out a shout of surprise, before being yanked out of the air, and sent plummeting down towards the street. He slammed into the hood of an abandoned taxi, feeling the metal crumple beneath his weight.

Trying to shrug off the pain, Spider-Man raised his head to meet his newest assailant. The man was wearing a Spider-Man costume similar to his, but with a larger spider covering his entire chest, connected to another on the back. In life, the arms were completely blue, except for the index finger, pinky, and thumb, which were red. Half of his legs were covered with a red web pattern. Of course, the entire costume had been stained a dull grey by the black ring on his finger, and the Black Lantern symbol was on the chest spider's abdomen. His mask was partially torn, revealing his dead left eye and his rotting, cracked teeth.

"Oh, God, Ben, not you too," Spider-Man groaned, climbing off the car hood.

Through his shredded mask, Ben Reilly's dead face shifted into an unsettling grin. If Spider-Man could've seen through his eyes, he would've observed himself, but surrounded by pure darkness, all background ignored. Peter himself was cloaked in a colored aura, half red and half purple, split down the middle of his body.

" _Rage. Compassion,"_ reported Ben's ring.

"Oh, getting angry, Pete?" chuckled the clone, "I honestly can't say I'm surprised. After all, didn't I steal your life, when you wanted me to die in that smokestack like a good little clone?" He raised his ring, firing several more strands of black webbing at Peter.

Mentally swearing, Spider-Man rolled forward, zipping between the black constructs, taking a deep breath as he did so and trying to suppress his emotions. He fired his own webbing, catching Ben by the chest. The undead Spider-Man was yanked off his feet and sent flying through a convenience store window. With that settled, Peter turned to flee again.

His escape was once again cut off, this time by Kraven, who flew down in front of him, brandishing a heavy club construct. Though his spider-sense enabled him to dodge the first swing, he was unprepared for the blow to his stomach that came from Kraven's foot, and the ensuing strike that sent him flying down the abandoned street.

"You are my prey," growled the Black Lantern Kraven, "You cannot escape me, Spider. I will have justice for your sins."

"Aw, come on, Kraven!" called Ben Reilly, dropping down behind the weakened Spider-Man, as his flesh regurgitated shards of glass from the window, "I'm practically his brother! I got dibs!" He kicked Peter in the back, causing the super hero to shout in pain.

"You may have the honor of removing his heart," responded Kraven, "But I claim his scalp as a token of my honor."

Both Black Lanterns were cut off suddenly as Spider-Man's limbs snapped up, catching Ben under the chin with an uppercut, and Kraven in the gut with a kick. He jumped to his feet, grabbed Ben by the arm, and hurled him into Kraven with every ounce of his superhuman strength. The shattering of bones reverberated throughout the night as the two Black Lanterns splintered like toothpicks.

 _"Don't make any quips,"_ thought Spider-Man, as he frantically grabbed a garbage bin from the sidewalk, _"It'll make it worse. Just crush these undead freaks! Just win!"_ He chucked the bin, slamming it into the rotting corpses, and breaking off Kraven's leg. Of course, the things were already starting to regrow everything they had lost.

 _"Rage,"_ whispered both rings.

"Trying to stay calm by not joking?" asked Ben, raising his ring hand as his body knotted itself together again, "Not workin' out for ya." He summoned two black jackal constructs (oh, the irony), which proceed to leap onto the super hero, sinking their teeth into his flesh.

Peter screamed in pain, feeling the energy creatures tearing into his arm and leg. He punched the jackal on his forearm in the gut, sending it flying away, where it disintegrated. Using both hands, he pried the second one off, before throwing it away. His respite was brief, however, as two bolt of black energy struck him in the chest, and Spider-Man collapsed in agony.

"You fight well, Spider," chuckled Kraven, summoning black chains to raise Spider-Man into a crucifixion position, "But you cannot win."

With the lower part of his mask torn away, Spider-Man teeth visibly gnashed in fury, blood dripping out of his lips. As if that wasn't enough, both Black Lantern saw the super hero as pure red, and their rings confirmed his rage. If he was going to die, Peter wasn't going to give these freaks the satisfaction of despair. He'd die in defiance.

"Hm," muttered Ben, thoughtfully stroking his rotting chin, "I don't know, I've kinda had my fill of rage for the night. What else can we bring out in him?"

"I've got a few ideas," responded a new voice. Peter's blood turned to ice as his looked up for the speaker. It couldn't be. He knew that voice.

Two more Black Lanterns, ordinary humans, descended from the sky. One was an older man, likely past his sixties, with grey hair, and a pair of old glasses. His companion was a much younger woman, with the head of blond hair she'd had in life restored, along with a medium length skirt, and a large tan coat. Both were in states of decay, with soulless eyes, rotting flesh, and missing lips, exposing their grey teeth. Even worse, the two carried the couple Peter had seen fleeing earlier in their undead grips.

"Peter, my boy," said Ben Parker, "So disappointing."

"I know, right?" chimed in Gwen Stacy, "You'd think he'd have learned after he broke my neck."

"Uncle Ben...Gwen..." Peter breathed through the tears that were starting to form, "No...why...?"

Both the man and the woman were trembling from head to foot. Tears poured from their faces in a panic, and it was clear they were terrified. This fact was confirmed by the black rings, which whispered " _Fear."_

"Ooh, an appetizer!" cheered Ben. He conjured additional chains, binding down the length of Spider-Man's body, preventing him from moving anything below his neck. "Be right with ya, Pete!" He floated up to the couple, as did Kraven.

"Your hearts are ours," Kraven hissed as he approached the woman, who couldn't even see him through her tears. Suddenly, Kraven plunged his hand through her chest, pulling out her heart, and spraying blood and tissue all over the road. Ben performed the same action on the man, with a similarly messy result. The organs then disintegrated into wisps of yellow smoke, and the two new corpses dropped to the ground. No blacks rings came to recruit the new victims.

"NO!" screamed Peter, desperately trying to break through his binds. However, Uncle Ben and Gwen simply conjured up club weapons and hammered on his skull, dazing him, and sending blood from his mouth to the asphalt.

"With great power comes great responsibility," laughed Uncle Ben, "You, on the other hand, have proven that with great power comes great screw-ups, Peter."

"You killed my dad," chimed in Gwen, "And you killed me. Why didn't you just throw yourself off the bridge, too? You'd already proven yourself a failure."

"No...that's not...I tried..." sobbed Spider-Man. He wanted to defend himself, both verbally and physically, but he found he could not even find the strength to speak. His heart was shattering into a million pieces, and his spirit had no desire to go on.

In the eyes of the black lanterns, Peter's aura had become completely purple. _"Compassion,"_ the rings reported.

"Oh, my God," said Gwen, trying to suppress her laughter, "Are you actually crying? You really don't have a backbone! Man, what did I ever see in you?"

"We all mess up, Gwen!" chuckled Ben Reilly, "No lasting damage done! Oh, wait, he killed you! That's gonna leave a mark!"

"This is justice, Peter," said Uncle Ben, reaching for his nephew's heart, "Because of you, May has to go through life all alone, without me. You deserve this."

Peter hung his head in shame, not even bothering to try and resist. What was the point? They were right. He'd failed Uncle Ben, he'd accidentally killed Gwen, and he hadn't saved Ben Reilly. He needed to be punished. Sure, his corpse would become an undead monster of the night, but so what? Who cared? His body would be vaporized by the Justice League, or the Avengers, and the world would finally be rid of the menace of Spider-

Peter's thoughts were interrupted by an massive burst of green light above him, blinding him for a moment. He shut both eyes, waiting for it to fade, and suddenly dropped from his bound position as the black energy chains disappeared. When he opened his eyes again, he was greeted by a new sight. The four Black Lanterns had been torn apart, although they were already beginning to reform. Floating above him was Daredevil, a.k.a. Matt Murdock. His usual dark red costume had been changed to dark green, and a green aura surrounded his body. The symbol of the Green Lantern Corps had been imprinted on his chest, between the D's of his own logo, and he had an emerald ring on his right hand.

"Nice to see you still kicking, Spidey," he said, reaching out for Peter's hand, lifting him to his feet.

"What...how..." stammered Peter, his broken spirit forgotten due to his shock, "Since when were you a Green Lantern?!"

"Since about five minutes ago," replied Murdock, "According to Hal, Ganthet, the Guardian, transported the central power batteries of every corp to Earth, and they're churning out new rings to give us some firepower. You should see Deadpool, he got a green one, too, and he was going nuts."

"Wait, Deadpool is worthy of being a Green Lantern? And since when were there seven corps? I remember the Sinestro Corps, but..."

Daredevil shrugged. "He said something about Ryan Reynolds. Made about as much sense as anything he's ever said. The other five are-whoa! Speak of the devil!"

Spider-Man looked up, noticing yet another ring flying through the air, coming straight towards them. However, this ring was not green, yellow, or black, but deep, bright purple. Zipping down to them, it floated up to Spider-Man's face. He noticed that, rather than the lantern symbol of the green rings, this ring was engraved with a circle in the middle, along with an arrow, resembling a greater-than sign, on top, and another on the bottom.

 _"Peter Parker of Earth,"_ said the ring, _"Your heart feels great compassion for all living things."_ It slipped onto his right hand. _"Welcome to the Indigo Tribe."_

Beneath his mask, Peter's eyes turned into solid purple orbs, and an explosive burst of purple light surrounded him. Peter couldn't even breath as the energy of the ring flowed into him, feeling the power he'd so often seen Hal, Guy, John, and Kyle use. His costume disappeared, and the ring conjured up a new one. His new uniform had no sleeves and shorts instead of pants, but purple gloves and boots still covered his hands and feet. The normally red patch on his chest now was a straight, purple v pattern ending at the bottom of his torso, and all the web lines had vanished. The spider on his chest became a bit larger, with the symbol of the indigo ring on its thorax. The symbol was also etched between his eyes on his now purple mask. The blue portions of his costume now turned black as the red turned purple, and the spider on his back had vanished. In his hand, he held a long purple staff with a cylindrical head pointing forward, like a cannabis pipe.

"Nok," he whispered.

Daredevil looked perplexed. "Uh, what did you say?" he asked.

Peter looked down at his new ring. "I have no idea," he responded, "It just...filled my mind. Man, this ring is weird." Peter felt the sheer compassionate energy the ring emitted, filling his formerly broken soul with strength. It was as though the heartbreak he'd suffered had never existed, and his carefree, determined spirit had risen once more. He took another moment to examine his new uniform, as well as the staff he now held. "Purple's not usually my color, but I'm not complaining."

"Good! Because you pissed me off!" roared Ben Reilly, having fully regenerated. He fired a few strands of black razor wire from his ring, intending to ensnare his opponents, but they both flew upwards, avoiding the swinging metal.

Peter floated back, trying to think of how to utilize his new powers. Deciding to start simple, he focused his ring, generating a beam of pure indigo energy. Ben Reilly's corpse was shoved back by solid force, slamming into a fire hydrant. Peter's reprieve was brief, however, as Kraven, Uncle Ben, and Gwen had all finished regenerating as well, and had conjured up black energy weapons.

"Spider-Man!" called Daredevil, as he dodged Kraven's throwing knife, "The black rings can be destroyed by a combination of green and another light!"

"Got it," Peter responded. Kraven floated up to him, swiping at him with a black machete, which he immediately blocked with his staff. Peter then struck back with the object, knocking the hunter away, before conjuring a purple sword in midair. The blade stabbed onto Kraven's hand, directly into his ring. Daredevil let loose with a blast of green light at the same spot, and the combination of the two lights resulted in a sound like a cracking rock. Kraven roared in pain as an aura of green and indigo light surrounded his entire body, before his ring shattered, and his body disintegrated into dust, along with the broken accessory.

 _"Connection severed,"_ came the faint voice of the ring.

"Peter Parker!" snarled a freshly regenerated Uncle Ben, "When will you learn to sit down and die like you're supposed to?!" He hurled a battle axe at Spider-Man, who dived to the side.

"Do you have any idea how many people have died so you could play dress up?" spat Gwen, sending black tentacle constructs towards him, "This has been a long time coming! You have nothing worth living for!"

Peter swung his new staff in an arc, releasing a wave of indigo energy that beat back the shadowy constructs. Internally, he felt their words tug at his heartstrings, but weaker than before. It was as though the indigo light had been a wake up call he'd desperately needed. He was Spider-Man, and these were not the people who had died. These were not his loved ones, returned from the dead to extract righteous vengeance upon him for past sins. These were black rings, utilizing dark powers to manipulate their corpses in an effort to kill everything. No different than Norman Osborn, or Dr. Doom, or every other idiot scumbag who wanted to take over the world, or destroy it, or whatever.

He raised his ring. "Time to show Romero just how wrong he was."

Pouring all of his energy into the ring, Peter generated a massive spider web, large enough and strong enough to hold back a tanker truck. The web moved as Peter willed it, binding Ben Reilly, Gwen, and Uncle Ben to its surface. The Black Lanterns attempted to generate large blades to cut through the sticky lines, but a few bolts from Daredevil's ring eliminated their constructs. The Man Without Fear then released the full force of his ring, bathing the Black Lanterns in emerald fire, burning away at their rotting flesh.

"Peter! Finish 'em!" he shouted.

"NO!" screamed Gwen, "Peter! I'm sorry! I always loved you..."

Uncle Ben stared up at his nephew, even as the flesh melted off his skull. "Peter, please..."

Spider-Man raised his ring without hesitation. "You're not them," he said simply, then fired.

The beam of purple energy blended with the green, completely consuming the Black Lanterns. They screamed with fury, attempting to fly away from the onslaught of willpower and compassion, to no avail. The screams died down as the corpses lost their vocal capabilities, and the three black rings fell from the decaying fingers. Green and purple energy bombarded them, and three shattering cracks echoed throughout the night.

" _Connection severed,"_ said the rings, and the bodies crumbled into dust on the asphalt.

Spider-Man floated back down to solid ground, staring down at the remains of the people he'd loved. Daredevil joined him.

"You okay?" he tentatively asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, "You know you weren't responsible for their deaths, right?"

"...yeah," said Spider-Man simply, "They're dead. Even if their deaths were my fault, it doesn't matter. I can't bring them back. I've just gotta do the best I can."

"That's all any of us can do, Pete," said Daredevil, "Now, let's got kick death in the face."

"We've got a lot of dead people to kill," laughed Peter, taking off from the ground.

* * *

 **The idea here is that this is just a shared Marvel/DC universe. I wanted to do a fic about the Blackest Night, but I couldn't think of a big scale story, so I just wrote this one-shot. Yeah, the Blackest Night didn't play out like this, but I think it works. I might be willing to write more one-shots focusing on other characters, so if anybody has any ideas, please let me know. As always, rate and review. Constructive criticism is welcomed.**


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